Improvement in reels for



UNiTrD STATES r. RUSSELL, or MANLiUs, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN REELs FORHARVESTERS;

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. L17,338, dated April 18, 1865.

pear when passing over level ground. Fig. 2

is a longitudinal vertical section, showing the reel and cutter-bar depressed, as they appear when the end of the cutter-bar is downhill, the red lines showing the reel and cutter-bar thrown up above the horizontal line, as they rpear when the end of the cutter-bar is upi l. ,y To enable others to make and use my invention, I will describe its construction and operation.

The nature of my invention consists in 1nak ing the shaft of a reel for harvesters and mow` ing-machinesl in two pieces, overlapping and slidingpast each other through square clamps on their inner ends, one of the pieces passing through and being fast to the spider 7 on the outer, end of the reel, and the other one passing and sliding freely through the spider on the inner end ofthe reel, for the purpose of allowing the reel-shaft to expand or contract, so that the reel and the cutter-bar may maintain their relative positions upon ground of varying equality,H as will fully hereinafter appear.

In the drawings, A represents the frame of the harvester; B, the cutter-'ban C is a tem porary support used in lieu of the .outer support of the reel, which in an actual machineA extends forward from the rear of the machine.

D is the standard, rising from the frame A for the purpose of supporting the inner end of the reel, and is provided with a quadrant clamp, E, and set-screw d, so as to be set at various angles. S and S2 are the two parts of `my reel-shaft, their inner ends being provided with sliding clamps c c, so that each part S slides through the clamp c of the other part S. The inner end of the shaft is connected with the universal joint T, which is made to andy PATENT rrice.

. 'journaLbox inwhich the shaft ofthe pulley shaftsliding past the other, and the part Si' of ved to clasp the ends of the arms Q of thereel,

partially out of the driving-pulley Vf V? are spiders or clamps which compress `and hold together the arms which compose the ends of the reel. 'Ihe spider V is fastened by a` set-screw to theshaft S', while the spider V? slides loosely over the shaft S2. `U is the driving-pulley, the shaft of whichis cut away, as shown in the drawings, so asto form a part of the universal joint T. `W is the forked U revolves, and it has an arm, X, projecting downward, which is provided with a slot and set-screw, so that the reel may beraisedg or lowered, according to the height of thegrain to becut.` `I have described my improved reel as hav-` ing two clasps, c, some distance apart from each other. f 'I find that this arrangement gives greater steadiness than any othermode of "op-` erating the double `shaft that'I have tried.` Instead of using twoclasps, I may use only one, and that may be of considerable length; or one part of the shaft ymight be made to slide` into the other part, whichmiight be made hol-V low for that purpose. y y

' The operation ofmy invention is exceed` y ingly simple and satisfactory. As the wheel on the outer end of `the cutter-bar B rises or falls in following Jthe unevenness ofthe ground the shaft contracts or expands, one part of the the shaft sliding throughits end ofthe reel-1 frame, so that the reel and the cutter-bar may maintain their relative positions.` To illus-` trate, the cutter-bar and` reel-shaft form the longer sides of a `rectangular parallelogram when the machine runs (on levelground, and the supporters C and D formthe shortersides.` Now, whenrthe cutter-bar israised by passin over a hill, the angle made bythe hinged en of the cutter-barandthe standard D is changed to an acute angle, thus making the distance between the tops of the standards less than the length of the cutter-bar; hence the neces-` sity .of the contracting reel-shait.V II are metallic clasps cast each in two pieces, and; so l shaped as that one `end of them 1nay,when y placed together, have a circular grasp, adapt- C which areinade of cylindrical rods, theouter .i ends of the clasps having a circular grasp to` clasp the beaters Q, which are thus secured ating substantially in the manner and for the purposes speeied. l

2. The clamps I, constructed, applied, and operating substantiallyr as and for the purposes herein specified.

E. l?. RUSSELL.

Vitnesses:

.To C. CLAYTON, V. C. CLAYTON. 

